Keeping tenants for longer doesn't have to be a complicated process! Making sure your rental property doesn't end up vacant every few months is actually easy with the right plan, right processes and the right team. If you're tired of needing to re-fill vacancies, attend viewings, repair the damage from repeatedly moving furniture in and out - then you're in the right place. We've got all the answers you need to attract and keep your long term tenants.

Step 1: Get the Right Tenants

Getting the right tenants is the first step to keeping long term tenants. That means finding quality tenants - the ones who are going to pay their rent on time, and respect your property. The best way to do this is to perform a credit check, ask for and verify references from previous landlords, and perform routine inspections (every 6 months).

Step 2: Get Noticed by the Right Tenants

Keeping long term tenants requires that your property first gets noticed by the right tenants! That means properly marketing your rental property. There are many, many different property listing portals in South Africa and all of them are important for getting noticed. On top of ensuring your property is listed in the right places, you'll need to ensure that your property is advertised to the fullest. Properly showcasing your property with professional grade photography will go a long way to differentiating your property from the competition.

Step 3: Make the Process Easy for Your Tenant

Make the process of finding and applying for new tenants as easy as possible. This is a super important step in ensuring that you attract long term tenants. Giving them a great first impression will go a very long way towards making them feel comfortable with you and the property. One of the best ways to do this is to switch to an all-digital application process. Making it possible for tenants to fill in forms using their mobile phones will help a lot!

Step 4: Focus on Tenant Satisfaction

The single most important thing you can do to keep your long term tenants is to focus on tenant satisfaction. This means making sure that your tenants are happy with the property and the process of finding and applying for new tenants. This will make it much easier to attract new tenants and reduce vacancies. The most important thing to remember here is to make sure that you provide your tenants with the best possible experience. To do this, simply respond to their queries quickly, keep the premises safe, and ensure the common property is well managed.

Step 5: Keep Annual Rent Escalation Reasonable

When it comes to increasing your tenants' rent in small increments, it's critical that you get it right. This is a great way to make your tenants feel comfortable with the increase and to reduce any potential resentment. The first thing you need to do is identify the right time to increase your tenants' rent. The best time to do this is when your tenants are renewing their lease. Keeping the price manageable is also super important. So, instead of bumping up the rent 15% every 3 years, bump it up by around 5% every year. Of course, this will depend on a lot of things. For example during the COVID 19 crisis it wouldn't have been a great idea to bump up rent.

Step 6: Add Unique Value for Your Tenants

Adding unique value to your property is easier than you may think! It's a simple matter of knowing what tenants really want:

1. High speed fibre
2. Relief from loadshedding
3. Prepaid utilities

Those three simple things help improve the quality of life for tenants in so many ways! Of course, buildings with gyms, swimming pools, secure parking as so forth are very attractive - it may not always be possible to add these features to your building or complex. That's why we recommend making small changes to your unit(s) such as prepaid water meters and smart electricity meters to add unique value.

Step 7: Respond QUICKLY to Maintenance Issues

Responding to maintenance and pest control requests is super important for keeping long term tenants. Even if you're unable to get a pest controller into the unit within the same business day, be sure to keep the flow of communication open. Let them know that you're looking into it and that their needs are being addressed. This will help to build mutual respect, solidify the relationship, and promote long term tenancy.